Sri Lanka's warring parties opened the latest round of formal peace talks in Hakone, Japan today, ending speculation over a possible rebel boycott to protest the sinking of one of their vessels.
The Sri Lankan government's chief negotiator shook hands with his rebel counterpart and posed for pictures at the hotel hosting the talks.
Both sides said they will address the issue of the Sri Lankan navy destroying a rebel vessel - with the loss of 11 lives on March 10th - before discussing political, economic and humanitarian issues in the next three days.
The latest round is the sixth for the two sides in line with a Norwegian-led plan that is supported, among others, by Japan, the United States, European Union nations and India.
The first formal contact between the two sides was in September, but a Norwegian-brokered truce has been in place since February last year.
They have agreed to establish a federal system in Sri Lanka to grant a greater degree of autonomy to minority Tamils in exchange for ethnic peace in a country where 60,000 people have been killed in fighting since 1972.
AFP